The Ford Barn - View Single Post - Engine quit ------ Condenser overheated

TJMack · 02-27-2018, 07:41 PM

Someone told me about this problem when I first got my model “A”. They said that if the car just quit for what seemed like no reason it might be the condenser had overheated.

It happened to me twice. And here’s a tip in case it happens to you and leaves you stuck on the side of the road. I wet a rag with water and held it against the condenser for a few minutes, changing the wet spot on the rag occasionally. It was enough to cool the condenser down and allow the car to start and run again. As long as you keep moving to keep air flowing it will probably last until you get to your destination.

I added a heat shield below the distributor, and so far, so good. I also purchased a new upper plate for the distributor that holds the new style points and condenser, getting the condenser away from the heat of the exhaust manifold.

This sounds like a good idea to me, but I ran into problems right away after I installed it. It ran fine for about an hour and then the same problem arose. I barely made it home. When I put the old condenser back in, everything was good again. The new condenser supplied with the top plate had crapped out that quick.

I contacted Mike’s A Ford Able part and talked with one of the “tech” guys. He said they get the condensers from the same source that they have used for years, but the quality had diminished greatly. He said it’s not unusual for 5 -10 out of 100 of them to be bad. He offered to send me another condenser, but told him not to bother.

Napa lists three different condenser part numbers for V-8 Ford’s in the 1970’s. There is a “standard” grade, a “premium” grade, and a “hi performance” grade. I tried to find out the difference by calling a phone number provided by my local Napa store but the guy who answered wasn’t much help.

He did verify that the capacitance of all three was the same, and theorized that the difference in grade, and thus price, was probably due to better materials being used in the higher grade. He couldn’t substantiate that the “hi performance” one would be better at heat resistance, but surmised that that was most likely the case.

I had him order one for me. It’s about $13, which is cheap if it solves the problem. The part number for it is ECH FA8200.

02-27-2018, 07:41 PM	#1
TJMack Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Venice, Fl and Marcy, NY Posts: 93	Engine quit ------ Condenser overheated Someone told me about this problem when I first got my model “A”. They said that if the car just quit for what seemed like no reason it might be the condenser had overheated. It happened to me twice. And here’s a tip in case it happens to you and leaves you stuck on the side of the road. I wet a rag with water and held it against the condenser for a few minutes, changing the wet spot on the rag occasionally. It was enough to cool the condenser down and allow the car to start and run again. As long as you keep moving to keep air flowing it will probably last until you get to your destination. I added a heat shield below the distributor, and so far, so good. I also purchased a new upper plate for the distributor that holds the new style points and condenser, getting the condenser away from the heat of the exhaust manifold. This sounds like a good idea to me, but I ran into problems right away after I installed it. It ran fine for about an hour and then the same problem arose. I barely made it home. When I put the old condenser back in, everything was good again. The new condenser supplied with the top plate had crapped out that quick. I contacted Mike’s A Ford Able part and talked with one of the “tech” guys. He said they get the condensers from the same source that they have used for years, but the quality had diminished greatly. He said it’s not unusual for 5 -10 out of 100 of them to be bad. He offered to send me another condenser, but told him not to bother. Napa lists three different condenser part numbers for V-8 Ford’s in the 1970’s. There is a “standard” grade, a “premium” grade, and a “hi performance” grade. I tried to find out the difference by calling a phone number provided by my local Napa store but the guy who answered wasn’t much help. He did verify that the capacitance of all three was the same, and theorized that the difference in grade, and thus price, was probably due to better materials being used in the higher grade. He couldn’t substantiate that the “hi performance” one would be better at heat resistance, but surmised that that was most likely the case. I had him order one for me. It’s about $13, which is cheap if it solves the problem. The part number for it is ECH FA8200.